Renegade II: Escalation
by zog the angry chipmunk
Summary: Renegade returns with a few surprises.
1. Meetings

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bionicle**

_Date unknown_

_Helryx looked at the blue-black being in front of her. "You will join the Dark Hunters?" The Water Toa confirmed. "Yes. I have already secured a meeting." The shadowy being responded, fingering his ever-present laser rifle. Helryx had been amazed when the ex-Toa actually found their organization, without being invited and had requested membership. Many beings in the Order didn't know the island's location, so it was amazing that an outsider had found it. He was perfect for the job, too. He already had plans for a personal army, a great knowledge of engineering and weapons, and a background in killing Makuta. _

R

"He's _what_?" Xeon exploded, staring in bewilderment at Helryx. The Toa had met with her about hunting Renegade, only to get a huge shock from the Order leader. "Yes, he's an agent. I apologize for his little private war with you; he was acting without my knowledge. However, he has already repaired all damage he caused to the cities he attacked." The object of the discussion, Renegade, was sitting on a wall nearby, observing the wildlife of the Order of Mata Nui's main base. He was looking quite bored and impatient, and Tahu wondered why. "By the way," Helryx said, "You will, from now on, have his assistance in your other little adventures." "Will we have to work with _him?" _Hydrix demanded, looking disgusted. Xeon's group of Toa had recently become an official team, the Toa Avix, and very few members wanted to expand the group. "Yes, and I want you to help him with some things as well."Helryx said.


	2. Explanation

**Sorry for the wait, been busy.**

The sleek, angular aircraft streaked towards a Makuta fortress. The fort was in the middle of a large, grassy island, surrounded by hills. The fort itself was designed to look like a hill itself, but the ship's sensors saw right through them outer walls to the energized Protodermis in the middle. There were strange life readings coming from near the pool, almost like diluted Makuta essence. As the craft approached the scanner range, advanced mirror and projector systems turned it invisible and undetectable, its occupants doing the same with personal arrays. The generators in back rendered the ship intangible, passing it through the force field with ease. The occupants landed, powerful blue-black figures with heavy weapons.

R

The Nuva walked across the grass, towards the burning buildings in the distance. Black ships streaked overhead, engaging in dogfights with the Brotherhood ships. "Most definitely Renegade," Kopaka said, looking at the destroyed terrain near the base. The Toa had been ordered to meet with him on this island, but had found Renegade was not at the dock. Kopaka had suggested that to find Renegade, "Just follow the explosions."

R

Kopaka kicked down the door, looking around the hall. It seemed untouched, causing the Toa to wonder if Renegade wasn't in yet. Tahu slipped into the polished hallway, finding a heavy door. Silently, he fired his Midak at the lock. Renegade stepped out, looking grim. "What the slag?" Pohatu broke the silence. To add to Renegade already being inside, he was holding some weird gadget in his hand. "Sorry I couldn't call ahead, the radio would've given away the sneak attack." Renegade said. "This device is a transfer cell. Basically, it lets Makuta reproduce. The device uses nanotechnology to divide the antidermis and put it in a new body." "Quick-stop! The Makuta are quick-reproducing?" Lewa asked. "Not all, but some." Renegade said. "Including the one who owns this fort, my old archenemy. Akarix."

R

"Your theory is confirmed," Renegade said to Helryx. "The Makuta are reproducing. I didn't catch Akarix, though. He's as elusive as ever." "Excuse me, I know a Makuta who can help us," Xeon mentioned, ignoring stares from several Order agents.

R

Zivax looked up from his work bench on his new island, Kava Nui. Standing in the doorway was someone he'd thought he'd never see again. "Tahu!" Zivax called out. "Come in. Is there anything you need?" Tahu was surprised by the Makuta's eagerness to help, but Zivax had always been one of the friendlier Makuta. "We need your help," Tahu said.


	3. Surprise party

Renegade slammed his fist into a wall. "Another dead end?" The question came from Xeon, who was kicking a Rahkshi head across the floor. Renegade nodded in confirmation and hit the wall again, this time punching a hole right through. "Well, you know what they say," Xeon said. "When life gives you lemons, shove them up its nose!" He kicked the head high into the air. As it came down, he punched it straight on, sending it in a perfect line into the hole Renegade had created.

R

Renegade and the Avix had been chasing Akarix across the Matoran Universe for some time now. Whenever they got close, however, Akarix always disappeared. On the bright side, they had prevented over two dozen Makuta from coming into existence. Finally, it seemed that Akarix was within their grasp. As the Makuta with the most raw power currently in existence, he was going to be a great challenge. According to Renegade, the Makuta was a purple and black titan who stood twice as tall as a Toa and had extremely dense armor. It looked deceptively delicate, with a number of wires and tiny components. However, it was so thick that even Renegade's rail gun and plasma rounds couldn't pierce it.

According to rumors, the Makuta was on an island called Karak Nui, a desolate desert with only a few Matoran. The titan was reportedly trying to build an army of Makuta and retake control of the ruined Mata Nui robot. If even a few of the new Makuta got away, it would make their job even harder. "Why is this taking so long?" Tahu broke the silence. "In order to bypass Akarix's security, we must move slow enough not to leave even a large air trail. In other words, so we don't get blown out of the sky and die." Renegade's response was enough to keep even Lewa and Kryx from asking too many questions. "What about your cloaking?" Gali asked. "Not enough. Too many signals, including quick movement, and we get blown out of the sky and die." "Oh, happy-cheer." Lewa said sarcastically. "Why do we trust this creep again?" Hydrix motioned at Renegade. "We verified Helryx's report. We also made sure that Helryx wasn't a disguised drone. And, if he turns on us, we'll blow him into so many pieces that microbiologists won't find all the pieces." Came Xeon's reply. "Shut it, we're here." Renegade growled, activating the vibrators and projectors that rendered the ship intangible and invisible. The ship ghosted through a shield with ease and landed.

R

Renegade took hit after hit from Makuta Tryk, but refused to go down. His determined enemy, an acid green Makuta, was one of a number of new Makuta that had been found. Other Makuta were swarming the area. In the center of the massive battle stood the cause; Makuta Akarix stood tall, seemingly deflecting blows with a shield. It was actually his armor, which contained a special alloy.

Tahu battled a tall, lean orange female Makuta who seemed especially fond of her Shatter ability. She was sending shatter blasts everywhere, even shattering Rahkshi. She readied two blasts. The first disintegrated his shield, and the second was aimed right for him. Renegade jumped in the way, turning to dust. Another Renegade jumped up behind the Makuta and pinned her, then dragged her to the ship. They had decided to capture Makuta so Helryx could run tests and hopefully find a way to stop Akarix from making more.

Gali fought off twin red Makuta, surviving only because of their need to duplicate each other exactly. They sent another blast in unison, letting Gali anticipate both and dive out of the way. She kicked one in the chin, noting with surprise that they both went down. Seeing this, she jumped to pin the first. She was about to knock them both out, when a gigantic fist smashed into her side and sent her flying. A gigantic Makuta, bigger even than Akarix, stormed forward. Xeon jumped between them and used a powerful burst of magnetism to shatter the titan, staggering from the effort.

Akarix looked angry at the destruction of his Titan class creation. "What's wrong, Akarix?" Things not going to plan?" A Renegade drone hovered behind him, sneering. Akarix did his best to ignore it. It was a messenger class, not armed with anything that was dangerous. "Anyone home?" It asked. Akarix turned and glared. With one swipe of his bulky hand, Akarix slapped the drone in the torso and splintered it, mechanical limbs flying in all directions.

Xeon swung his Staffs for what felt like the umpteenth time. He was exhausted from shattering the titanic Makuta, but he kept fighting instead of retreating to the ship. His power, however drained, was invaluable against Makuta. He saw several more Titan class Makuta battling Renegade's giant drones. He took another swing, cleaving his opponent cleanly in half.

Takora shot fireball after fireball, even superheating his opponent, but the Makuta refused to stop or even slow. Takora decided to try something more drastic. It was an old trick that would undoubtedly burn out his power, but it guaranteed victory even over a Makuta of Heat Resistance. He built up a massive bolt of power, but instead of a Nova Blast, he bled out the burst slowly. A slip in his concentration vaporized the Makuta. Another, larger leak and he cleared an entire circle around him. One more and he sent out a sphere of raw heat that turned all nearby Makuta to dust.

Hydrix was fighting side by side with Kryx and Nuika, slashing wildly. The Makuta were swarming them. The tight quarters kept the Makuta from using their powers, but also let them protect each other. Hydrix backflipped without warning, slashing a Makuta in half without even looking. She spun and slammed a tidal wave into it, knocking a series of them down like dominoes. "You're good," Kryx commented. "The consensus is that I'm awesome." Hydrix replied with a smirk.

Arak and Kopaka were cutting a path through their enemies, not staying in one place. Those who didn't fall to ice blasts were battered with light spheres or stabbed. They were close enough to see Akarix. Then he vanished.


	4. Old friends

Kopaka blinked. Akarix had just disappeared. That couldn't be good.

Renegade shot down the last of his enemies. Almost all the Makuta were down, with escapees being captured with the hovering gunships. Only Akarix was missing. "Where is he?" Renegade shoved the unfortunate Makuta he was questioning against a wall. It was a bulky and powerful being, but even it seemed to fear Renegade. "I don't know. If I knew he'd run on us when we were losing, I wouldn't have fought." Renegade guessed that the prisoner was telling the truth. All the Makuta had said generally the same thing. The one Makuta with an attitude, a burgundy one, had had an 'accident' involving high explosives.

R

"Unbelievable." Hydrix complained. Akarix had apparently teleported underground, and then used a booster teleport to get off the island. There were very slim odds of catching him before another Makuta army was created. "Agreed. This is serious. If we want to keep him from teleporting, we need an expert." Tahu had walked to the main deck, accompanied by a blue-green Makuta. "Is that who I think it is?" Renegade asked Tahu. "Yes. This is Zivax, a Makuta. He has some information on Akarix."

"Hold on a second, where's Xeon?" Kryx asked. The ship was about to lift off when the crew noticed the Toa of Magnetism's absence. "Tell me he didn't do something stupid," Tahu groaned "A Titan Makuta was about to crush me, and he blasted it. It's now so many nuts and bolts." Gali pointed out. The Toa jumped out of the ship to look for Xeon.

R

Xeon shook his head. As Akarix had teleported, Xeon had hitched a ride. Now he was underground, in some kind of armored box passing for a room. There was a teleportation portal and a locked room, which the Makuta was now in. He heard shouts. "Next time the Toa appear, you will be ready. You serve me!" Akarix's voice was snarling. "I'll serve you something, alright. Your own face on a platter!" A metallic voice said. Akarix growled and slammed the door, locking all the bolts. He turned and gasped at the sight of Xeon. "You!"

Xeon didn't waste energy on a retort. Instead, he blasted connections under Akarix's armor. Much of the torso armor, the largest target, fell to the floor. Xeon groaned with effort. His own armor had gone from dark blue to silver, signaling low power. Xeon pressed on, shattering the locks. He leaned away from the bits and dragged them towards himself, then sent them along his extended arm right at Akarix. They acted like bullets, punching holes and releasing precious antidermis.

Akarix gave a shout as the door fell open, its security embedded in him. Xeon sprawled forward on the ground, one arm holding up his head as the other sat by his side. He saw a golden blast and Akarix heading for the portal. Xeon used his last bit of energy to erase the portal computer, sending Akarix to Mata Nui knew where. As he lost consciousness, he saw several figures, as large and powerful as Makuta, walk out of the cell.

R

"He just boosted," Zivax reported. "He's underground." Zivax blasted a hole in the ground, and with help from Renegade's bombers, soon reached a metal roof. At his touch, it slid open. On the ground was Xeon, lying on the ground. His silver armor told them that his power was exhausted. Tahu dropped town. "There're Makuta down here!" Tahu said. "No there aren't." Zivax stated with certainty. Renegade primed his blaster and dropped. He gasped.

R

"I don't believe it! It's you guys! You're alive!" Renegade's shout of joy surprised them. "Who are these beings?" Tahu seemed a bit more suspicious. The other Toa dropped, leaving Zivax as a guard. "Whoa, who's that?" Takanuva was staring at a solid gold Toa, female from her appearance, who was holding dual shields. There were many others, as well. "Let me introduce my Toa team." Renegade gestured to the others. "Aurius, Toa of Light" was the Toa that Takanuva was surprised by. "Quick-stop, you had a Toa team? And a Toa of Light?" Lewa asked. "Yes. My island fell to a surprise attack. It's the reason that I hate Makuta." "Civiris?" Aurius asked. "What the slag happened to you?" The red and purple Toa asked. "Exactly right, Cilix. Slag happened." Renegade addressed the Toa. "As for you, where were you?" "Akarix was trying to make us into Shadow Toa. The dolt thought we'd work for him. Look what happened." Aurius seemed bitter. She raised both hands. Light gleamed in the left, but the right generated a ball of shadow. "Aquaris was the first." The being, a blue and black Toa of Water, displayed a similar ability. "So what's new with you, Civiris? Did he get you already?" Klurus, Toa of Ice, looked him up and down. "And who are these?" Aurius asked. She gestured at the Nuva and Avix. "Strategic allies." Renegade did not seem to trust them any more than they trusted him. "And the blue-silver one who freed us and beat back Akarix? Who's he?" In the talking, Xeon had been forgotten. "That's Xeon. Toa of Magnetism," Hydrix said. "He _did what _to Akarix?" Tahu looked concerned. "He wasn't supposed to, that's for sure."

R

The rest of the introductions were made. The Toa Arkah of Stone was Iruk, and Air was represented by Rak. All of the Arkah but Renegade had Shadow powers, but when Renegade led them to his private air and water vehicles and introduced the drones, he was given more respect than ever.

Xeon groaned as he raised his head. A number of Toa were standing nearby while Gali used her healing power and Hydrix argued fiercely with Aquaris over something probably irrelevant. "You shouldn't take stupid risks like that." Tahu greeted him with a frown. "Go slag-" Xeon stopped himself from saying something bad, instead saying, "I know. I will not do it again. Do you want me to write this a hundred times on a stone tablet?" Gali motioned them to stop arguing, saying that Xeon would take under two days to heal. "Now we're getting somewhere," Renegade said as he greeted his team.


	5. Dogfight

The Toa had been caching up to Akarix, the Shadow Toa and Zivax tracking shadow energy while Akarix recovered from his portal being scrambled. "Are you sure?" Xeon asked. He had recovered completely from his loss of elemental power and was impatient to catch up with Akarix. They were in Renegade's new flagship, far more comfortable than the last and able to easily hold three Toa teams. Tahu suspected that the more comfortable design was for the benefit of the passengers, as Renegade's cockpit was as cramped and unfinished-looking as ever. "Yes," Helryx's voice came over the communicator. The Order had been helping to track down Akarix. "It's confirmed. He's down there." The long, angular ship ghosted through the predictable field and landed, the glowing blue upgraded thrusters slowly fading. Xeon jumped out immediately, then jumped back on with his mask glowing. "Take off. Now!" He said. The ground rumbled. A purple and black warship rose out of the ground, as gigantic and heavily armed as Renegade's own. Dozens of podlike ships rose from the hole, similar to Renegade's one-person jets. Then a number of Titan Makuta stormed from the ground, all capable of flight. "This strikes me as falling into the category of 'uh, oh'." Aurius said.

R

The giant ships rose into the air facing each other as the smaller ships engaged in combat. Renegade's angular fighters seemed evenly matched to the pods. The Titans flew into the air, only to be attacked by Renegade's own giants. The giant ships were still facing each other, neither deploying its weapons in case the other was faster.

Once they were well above the fighting, Renegade stopped. the other did the same, remaining level. Renegade slipped out of his pilot seat, instantly replaced by a drone. He, Tahu and Xeon went to the roof. "We might just be able to get into their ship, or at least get a shot off before they do." Renegade stopped short, the others following suit. On the purple ship, Akarix and two other Makuta had apparently had the same idea. "Stay here," Renegade said to the other two Toa. Akarix motioned his own Makuta back.

Renegade apparently wanted a showdown with Akarix. He readied his weapons and walked forward. Xeon frowned. Life in the Dark Mirror dimension had taught him that a fair fight with a being that had beat you before wasn't smart.

The two were now standing on the noses of their respective ships, using mainly swords because of the wind. Renegade struck blow after blow, none getting through to Akarix. Akarix seemed to favor sitting back and blocking, then striking when his enemy was tired. Renegade was on a far more aggressive strategy, battering Akarix too fast for the eye to follow. Whenever Akarix made a jab, Renegade would sidestep it and take a vicious swing, putting Akarix back on the defensive. Akarix, however, was clearly winning. Xeon decided to step in.

Xeon dropped into the ship and stood at the front. Through the windshield, he could see Renegade taking swing after swing. Then he made a fatal error. Akarix slammed his elbow into him and lifted him by the throat. He let go rather suddenly, as he was about to lose his balance. None of the weapons were deploying, either. Akarix's ship was going backward, turning, and adjusting its angle. Its thrusters went off. It went forward again because of the wing design, barely missing the bottom of Renegade's ship. It began to fall faster, and then smashed into the fighter pods. they scattered and some exploded. The ship smashed into the ground, burying itself. Some Makuta teleported out. A moment later, it exploded.

"That was amazing!" Several Toa were cheering. "No," Tahu corrected. "It was foolish. Didn't you learn any thing from the first time?" Xeon gave him a smirk and said, "Do I look hurt?" "And that's another thing. How on Mata Nui did you pull that off?" "It's easy controlling a ship, just ask him." Xeon gestured at the Renegade drone who was piloting their ship. At Tahu's disbelieving look, Xeon said, "Yes, I took over the opponent's cockpit with magnetism." "I hate to burst your bubble, but the Makuta are still down there." Aquaris said. "Here's our plan. We go in, break everything not on our side, and blow up whatever's left." "Oh, yeah," Hydrix grinned.


	6. Danger zone

Renegade's ship hovered over the terrain. Akarix was gone, but apparently didn't have a teleport booster active yet. The giant ship dropped something from the bottom. There was a massive explosion. Without the fake fields of grass, the island looked like a half-completed city, with a spider web of interconnecting beams, with barren clear spots. It was mainly dull grey, the bare dirt and the few grassy spots in shades of brown. It was dull to a casual observer, but to the angry Toa on the ship, it looked like a playground. They dropped to the ground, hovering with their jet packs. "Let's play." Xeon said.

R

It was evening, the sun turning the area red and orange. The metal structures looked even more like buildings from the ground. Xeon's armored foot crunched softly as he walked across the dirt terrain, the sun shining brightly on the horizon. Up ahead was the launch site for the Makuta flagship. Xeon tested out his thermal imaging goggles. They would let him see even after nightfall, and gave him a normal range of vision by going right over his eyes. He walked past another pole, looking curiously at the diagonal yellow and black stripes. Most all of the poles had this at ground level. One word was on every pole: Danger.

R

Aurius strode confidently across the expanse of dark grey metal that made up the ground. She wanted very much to walk into a trap. Ever since becoming a Shadow Toa, she had difficulty not tearing Makuta enemies limb from limb. Although Toa of Light were supposed to be calm and forgiving, Aurius had always thought it was nonsense. Most times, you had to fight fire with fire.

R

Aquaris, Gali and Hydrix had been ordered to stick together. Probably the worst group decision in history. Gali's calm nature clashed violently with Hydrix's rebelliousness and Aquaris's need for violence. The three immediately quieted. Someone was watching them. A tall figure stood in the shadows.

R

Xeon hooked both Staffs around a pole and swung forward, dodging a blast. He let go, flying forward and slamming into his mysterious attacker. "Renegade, where are Akarix and the two others?" His question through the intercom was answered in a strange way: "All are here. The fighters were just drones. What's the problem?" "We have more enemies than those three and the Titans." Xeon had personally seen to the destruction of the giants and now Akarix and his friends were surrounded. There was a rustling as several figures stood. "Far more enemies."


	7. Doublecross

Xeon dodged to the side as a blast came from his mystery opponent. As it passed, he saw something was very wrong with the blast; it was a light blast. He slammed a mirror of metal into existence. It deflected the light, and the attacker absorbed it. Xeon switched on night vision. "Aurius?" The next blast, of shadow, dropped him. "The one and only," Aurius stepped into the light, but remained coated in shadows.

R

"Stop!" The command from Akarix prevented the Makuta from attacking. They looked at each other. "Surrender!" Akarix put his hands in the air, surrendering to the Renegade drones. They did the same, fearing anything that scared their leader. Akarix stepped in. "What is going on here?" Akarix demanded.

R

Gali stared at the being. He seemed undisturbed that had been spotted. "Come out where we can see you!" Aquaris snapped. She held up her laser harpoon. "Or we'll drag you." The being didn't move. Aquaris, not known for idle threats, fired. A blue hand appeared, still obscured by shadow. The bullet slowed and stopped, as if commanded by the hand. It moved at less than half speed, crossing the remaining foot to the hand. It snatched the bullet out of the air and crushed it. Metal shrapnel flew everywhere. The figure stepped out. The Water Toa gasped in unison. Xeon stood, still bated in shadow. He held up his hand again, palm pointing at them. They felt their armor blast backwards, propelled by the skilled Toa. "It's on." Xeon jumped down, his now orange eyes meeting the others. He took out his Staffs and stepped forward.

R

Aurius stalked forward, angry, when Xeon jumped out and slammed her to the ground. She shot with light, but Xeon's polished Staffs reflected the blast. She shot darkness bolts, but Xeon dodged and pinned her hands behind her back at the same time. "Want to explain?" Xeon was snarling, his Staff poised to cut her hands off if she moved. She did, too fast for Xeon to react, and slammed both fists into his chin. He went flying, magnetizing his feet midflight and running straight up the metal beams. He got above her and dropped, but she countered with a punch to the face. "Do you?" She stepped forward, shadow in her outstretched palm. She pointed it at Xeon. Xeon smacked her into a building with magnetism and tied her hands, arms and legs with the metal beams. "For?" Xeon asked. "Attacking me." Aurius stated, rolling her eyes. "Exactly." Xeon said. "Why did you attack me?" "Listen, I don't know what fumes you've been inhaling. And I don't frankly care. All I'm wondering is" The rest of the sentence was interrupted by the metal untwisting. Two figures were in the shadows. Aurius illumined the area, revealing Aurius and Xeon.

R

Akarix looked in shock at his double and the two Makuta who were captives. Energy bonds of light kept them there. He couldn't rescue them. He settled for destroying the impostor. "How?" He glared at the Renegade drones. Renegade gestured at the two clones on either side of him. Akarix suddenly realized that Renegade had built an impostor around a drone. He twitched. Drones on either side of Renegade erupted in flame. "Die!" Akarix charged Renegade.

R

Cilix fought for his life against Aquaris. The Toa of Water was stronger with Shadow than he remembered. He didn't know why Aquaris was attacking, and didn't care. A blast of flame threw her off, and he used heat to melt the buildings nearby. Aquaris was trapped.

R

Xeon threw himself into the air, did some flips, and landed. Shadow bolts rained from his hand, battering his alternate self, and then threw a blast of magnetism. It stopped as the other Xeon cancelled it out. Aurius was already down, leaving just the two Toa of Magnetism, their blue armor flashing in the night.

R

Akarix stared at Renegade, and then telepathically signaled. A Rahkshi of Shattering crept up behind the rogue Toa. Renegade kept his eyes locked with Akarix's, the smirk that the Mask of Flight granted him displaying his emotion. The Rahkshi prepared to strike. Renegade rammed his elbow into its stomach, doubling it over, and rotated his arm, smacking his fist into the Rahkshi's face. It dropped to the ground, stunned. Renegade's expression never changed, and nothing but his arm moved. Until Kryx's unconscious body dropped to the ground in front of him.


	8. Getaway

Xeon battled his shadow double for all he was worth. Whenever a shadow bolt came his way, he'd trap it in a mirror and send it back. They were basically cancelling each other out. Xeon had never been one to settle, though. As his shadowy opponent sent another blast, Xeon spun, absorbed it, and gathered energy in his weapons. He channeled it strangely, though. Shadow Xeon was about to strike again when a burst of electricity, so concentrated that it was a form of plasma, slammed into him. It sent him through a wall, and he fell unconscious after hitting another post. Xeon walked away to revive Aurius.

R

Akarix sprung forward, only to be countered with electricity from Renegade's claw. His attacks were all met by Renegade, and the Toa showed no signs of fatigue. Akarix was fighting for all he was worth, but with Renegade having access to all of his weapons, it was hardly an even match. Akarix drew his last card.

"I have hostages. At a mental command, they won't be hostages, they'll be junk." Renegade stayed silent, slowly advancing through Akarix's defenses. Akarix sent the mental message, and got a strange reply. It was an insult in the Makuta's natural language, and a bad one at that. Renegade had apparently hacked the hostage station. Akarix backed away and Renegade took advantage. He swung up his plasma rifles and shot Akarix's sword right from his hand. Another shot and the giant was on the ground. Renegade took out an antimatter bomb.

"If you want to kill me, fine." Akarix knew that he was beat. However, the rogue Toa smirked.

"You destroyed my island, killed my Matoran, and experimented on my friends and you think it ends like that? No, you don't get it at all. I want to capture you. And then probably kill you."

R

Xeon had managed to defeat all of the Shadow Toa with sneak attacks. Aurius didn't approve of his methods, though. It wasn't about honor, though. She just wanted an enemy to see her. Xeon left his mark on the Shadow Toa, though. He carved his initial, a jagged X, into their armor so that they were distinguishable from their counterparts.

"How did you do that plasma bolt?" Aurius asked him at one point.

"Awesomeness," Xeon answered.

R

Renegade was snarling and blasting randomly when the Toa rejoined him. After saving Kryx and a handful of others, they re-boarded Renegade's ship.

"What went bad-wrong?" Lewa broke the silence.

"Akarix got away." Renegade snarled.


	9. Strategies

"He's creating Shadow Toa?" Renegade had been discussing the mission when he came to this interesting fact.

"Yes. He had shadow doubles of me and all the Toa Arkah except you." Xeon said.

"That makes sense," Renegade said. "He was probably working on shadow Arkah while they were captive, and when he saw you, he created a double of you too." Renegade sat and thought. "You say you beat all of them? How?" Xeon just smirked.

"Guys, we have a lock on Akarix. He's in Metru Nui." Kryx reported.

"Slag," Xeon said.

R

Renegade's ship, without the inhibiting stealth approach, took about half an hour to reach Metru Nui. Smoke clouds were drifting off the city, and Xeon smelled smoke. "Hold it," Xeon said abruptly. "If this is an attack, it's poorly timed. There are just a few beings in the city, and all of them can defend themselves."

"Frag! It's a distraction!" Renegade said. The aircraft pulled hairpin turn and shot off.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tahu asked.

"Daxia," Renegade replied, accelerating.

R

When the Toa reached Daxia, the Order's home base, was under heavy attack. There were no Rahkshi, though. It was all Shadow Toa and Makuta. Although Daxia was fortified beyond belief, the combination of elemental powers and unheard-of numbers of Makuta was overwhelming. Xeon could see that the stone wall ringing the lush island appeared to have been picked up and thrown aside. The rectangular, arch-roofed buildings were collapsed or on fire. The old ruins and serene pond near the middle appeared to have been the target of a bomb drop.

Renegade wasn't paying attention to the surroundings, instead focusing on wiping out the attackers. Plasma bolts weren't doing damage, though. "Yes! An excuse to do something insane and near suicidal. This is always fun." Renegade said, pulling levers and altering fuel and plasma lines and pumps. Xeon gave Aurius a worried look.

Renegade's ship hovered close to the water, almost touching. There was a slight splash as the ship skimmed the surface, deploying some nasty-looking weapons. They had several ring-shaped protrusions along the barrels. They ended in four-pronged points with a hole in the center for the blast, and they were solid black. A blue glow shone from the barrel, and there was a flash. Where Makuta and Shadow Toa had been moments ago, there were now quarter-circle stretches of bare land that expanded about as far as the attacker's ranks stretched. "Gotta love drastic measures," Renegade chuckled.

R

This pattern continued for another fifteen minutes, shortened even more by surprise attacks by the Toa. Suddenly, Renegade stopped. "We haven't seen Akarix yet…" Renegade muttered slowly. He scanned. Akarix's signal from Metru Nui had been a trick by Akarix, but so had this. Renegade steered the ship around, dropped a bomb, and sped off. As Xeon looked out the back, he thought he could see the Makuta crumpling to the ground, but no other beings were affected.

"I need some of that," Xeon muttered.

R

From the scans, Akarix was actually still in hiding, and just deploying attacks to both weaken their possible allies and to gauge their abilities. The Toa decided to head to their base on Spherus Magna instead, to rest.

Xeon didn't rest, though. He was tinkering with something in the warehouse, sketching plans and taking inventory of his private collection. Then he got to work.

R

The Toa had decided to take a break for a few days. On the outside, it looked foolish. They were making themselves easy targets. However, it was actually an ingenious move. Since Akarix was remaining hidden, the Toa were trying to draw him out. It was a tactical move and vacation all at once.

While most Toa used the time for recreation, Xeon was still in the warehouse. He kept asking Renegade to review mathematical equations, and was buying strange junk from traders like Berix. His collection included some random thrusters and motors, wheels, plate metal in different forms, and gears and levers. He also purchased jugs and tubes.

R

"Attack!" The shout awoke Xeon, who was sleeping in from a late night in the warehouse. A magnetic blast showed the lead Makuta, who had shouted, why it was unwise and probably fatal to awaken a tired Toa of Magnetism. He stretched and went outside. The early-morning strike had everyone but Renegade tired, and only the Great Spirits knew what he did at night.

The attack had the advantage of drawing out Akarix, but the disadvantage of pinning down Renegade's fleet. "Focus on Akarix!" Tahu shouted.

"No!" Renegade snapped.

"Why not?" Tahu demanded.

"It's a hollow victory if we're all massacred in the winning. Take out the lead squad, that'll slow down the ones behind them!" Renegade ordered.

Xeon slipped into the warehouse. It was finally time to put his sleepless nights to use. He turned at random and compresses an especially loud Shadow Toa's neck armor, causing him to black out.


	10. Chess

Akarix's forces were proving more than equal to the Toa. The Shadow Toa alone were a huge challenge, but with swarms of Makuta, it wasn't going well. Except for the random enemy who gave a battle cry and was crushed by his own armor by Xeon, or cut into little pieces by an equally tired Aurius. Renegade was holding his own against a dozen Makuta, having already defeated more.

No matter how many of their opponents the Toa cut down, though, there were always more. Akarix had singlehandedly defeated both Takanuva and Kryx, and was tearing into the rest. Nuika was down, and Iruk was under attack. Xeon was watching from above the chaos, and noticed something odd. Akarix's strategy looked suspiciously like a chess game, with Akarix as both always-defended king and nearly omnipotent queen. Xeon was about to cheat.

Akarix knew that the Toa of Magnetism was responsible the moment the plan went bad. He saw his air support, the bishops and rooks of the chess game, fall to an unknown assailant. Akarix's guards, the chess knights, were downed by a strange vehicle with treads. Akarix grabbed the front bumper, lifted it off the ground, and shouted. "Xeon!"

Xeon jumped and flipped over the Makuta, instantly destroying anyone who tried to stop him. Akarix saw the trademark blades flash in the slight sun, and Xeon was there. "You bellowed?" Xeon asked, smirking.

Akarix swung a blade, but missed. Xeon suddenly jumped and vanished. Akarix looked around, and then up. Clouds had rolled in, but Akarix could see the faint outline of a fighter jet before the light rain started. Akarix teleported away, thinking about the defeat.

R

"Well, the bad news is that he got away." Renegade was saying.

"And the good news?" Tahu asked.

"This." Renegade held up a tracker. It displayed the locations of bugs that Renegade could put on people. Akarix was clearly shown and labeled 'priority', while others were less clear. "Now on to the next issue," Renegade continued. "What in the name of Karzahni did you do?" Renegade asked Xeon.

"I planned a surprise." Xeon was smirking. Behind him, there were twin fighter jets. They were mismatched in color, but the construct was sound. On the front, there were Midak Skyblaster.

R

"What happened?" Akarix was in a dark room, seemingly alone. He wasn't sure how his commander talked. He knew vaguely what he looked like, and was well aware of the massive damage he could do on his brief appearances.

"We were ambushed by the Toa of Magnetism. He may be a threat in the future." Akarix answered.

"All things considered, you did well. Next time, though, cut your losses if you are ambushed or otherwise unpleasantly surprised." The voice said. With that, it was gone.

R

"We know he'll be here." Renegade pointed to a map. "We'll attack there, and make a lot of noise. However, it'll only be Nuika, Kryx, Rak, and a few of my drones. We get him to run to here," Renegade pointed to an underground chamber with a teleporter in it. "I'll coat the room in a gel from outside as soon as he appears. It prevents him from teleporting or turning intangible."

"Checkmate," Xeon smiled.


	11. Deathtrap

"The way I see it, we have three options." Xeon said. He was planning the attack with the other Toa.

"What are they?" Aurius asked, standing beside him.

"Supernatural bombs and a teleportation disk, doomed manned attack, or divine intervention."

Xeon looked again out the ship's windshield. The island that Akarix was on was mountainous. It did not have the pristine appearance of Mount Ihu on Mata Nui, though. The mountains covered the island, craggy peaks and narrow canyons making landing impossible for most ships. As it was, Renegade had to put all his concentration into not crashing. To make it more difficult, perpetual storms plagued the area. The water built up on the mountains made them slick. To make it worse yet, there was a dense fog covering it all. It was a better fortress than anything that living beings could have made.

R

Renegade had finally found a landing spot. Perhaps 'found' wasn't the right word, since the ex-Toa had just finally lost patience and bombed an area till it was flat. Xeon stepped out onto the already wet ground. With all the moisture, the bomb area looked like it had been there forever. Xeon walked carefully along the slick surface to the edge. Small ferns and shrubs were the only signs of life.

The damp, chilly air was not letting up as Kryx, Rak and Nuika walked across the valley floor. The drones accompanying them were flying, so that air support could be provided if necessary. They were near Akarix. From the look of the map, he had set up a fortress in the biggest, most menacing mountain there. Nuika thought that it was somewhat cliché, but the drones explained that the menacing feel was the hard, stable rock composition and that a bigger mountain meant more room inside for the fort.

They created a plan for getting Akarix to teleport. Nuika would use her power to make Akarix and any guards unusually nervous. Then Kryx and the drones would create as much noise as possible trying to get in. If all went according to plan, Akarix would teleport and fall right into a trap set by Renegade.

R

Akarix took the bait. The drones' sensors told them that Akarix had teleported into the trap. He was now unable to teleport or become intangible. He was also faced with sixteen Toa and an army of Makuta-killing drones. Zivax had been told to stay behind, so that he could stay in the Brotherhood and continue to help. Even without him, it looked like Akarix stood no chance.

Akarix teleported to a most unpleasant surprise; he was surrounded by some very angry Toa and some very dangerous drones. "You." Renegade's deep, dangerous voice said. It echoed around the cavern.

"Menace less, shoot more. He's still dangerous, you know." Xeon said. He turned to Akarix and said, "Missed you." He them proceeded to jump into the air, perform a perfect flip and slam both feet into Akarix. Aurius sent a laser beam at him, causing him to stagger forward. Renegade stepped forward and landed a vicious uppercut, channeling electricity in with the blow. Akarix stumbled back some more, almost falling. Iruk stepped forward, only to get a blow that went across his torso and sent him flying. As one, all of the Toa surged forward. Akarix batted them away to the best of his ability, but Xeon's magnetism slowed him down. They swarmed around him, landing dozens of blows and elemental blasts at once. Akarix smashed a fist into the ground. It left a crater and let out a shockwave that blew all of the Toa off at once. They didn't stay down, though. Elemental blasts resumed, this time joined by plasma rounds.

Xeon ran forward and jumped, the Ivax performing thousands of calculations per second to give him a perfect landing. It acted as a Celix, landing him without a scratch on Akarix's back. "Hey, this looks important!" Xeon said. He was looking at a cable. He grabbed it and ripped it out. He slashed at other valves and tubes, cutting them and spilling whatever was in them. "How long, I wonder, till I hit something vital?" He kept up the attack. Akarix managed to throw him off, and then created a wall.

"Stop!" Akarix yelled. He held up his hands.

"But this is fun!" Aurius kept blasting.

"I said to stop. I surrender." Akarix said.

"Gee, I am almost inclined to think that you'll attack us from behind." Renegade said.

"I won't lay a finger or power attack on any of you. I swear." Akarix motioned at the darkness in the back of the room. "A trick I learned from Teridax: Don't destroy your enemies when you can make someone else do it." From the back of the cave came the Toa Arkah and Xeon. All of them had jagged letter Xs carved into their armor.


	12. Caught

It was chaos. Elemental blasts flew everywhere, those not resistant cursing when hit. Cilix battled Klurus, neither realizing that they might be on the same side. Xeon was complaining that his shadow double was an insult. Aurius and Takanuva were more than able to beat Shadow Aurius, but the light blasts from the fight were shredding into others. The dirt roof was threatening to collapse, and Iruk, Onua and Pohatu had to make a truce with Shadow Iruk to prevent mutual annihilation. Aquaris had almost drowned the chamber. Arak seemed to be trying to kill anyone who entered his personal space, and had already flash-frozen two Shadow Toa. Renegade was still after Akarix, who was trying to escape.

It began to quiet down as the Shadow Toa were methodically defeated. Akarix saw that his plan had worked only partway; some of the normal Toa were injured, but none were defeated. Akarix decided to use his backup.

The Toa approached in a circle. Akarix stepped back, then triggered a switch. Sixteen tubes slid down over the Toa. Xeon was trapped in a light beam cage. Aurius was in a cage of transparent metal. Iruk was in a tube of water. Each tube was another Toa's element, but was something that the Toa trapped inside couldn't get through. The tubes also prevented the Toa from affecting anything outside them.

Renegade decided that he'd had enough. As Akarix ranted about having them right where he wanted them, Renegade pressed himself against the inside of the tube. He put an antimatter bomb in back. Akarix was about to start bragging when the wall hit him.

Akarix backed off, then sprinted for a nearby tunnel. The Toa sprinted after him, smashing aside tunnel walls. Xeon jumped forward and landed running. He hurled a magnetic blast at Akarix, throwing the weakened titan into a chamber. It was dark and plain.

Akarix turned and backed to the far wall. He brought up a shield, deflecting blows from the Toa. The ground rumbled under him, and a miniature volcano appeared. He was thrown forward, and began fighting the Toa again. A blast threw him backwards, and he went flying into the wall.

"This ends now." Renegade stepped forward.


	13. Showdown

Akarix was cornered. Renegade stepped forward. "Get him." With those two words, chaos erupted. Akarix used every ounce of power he had, while the Toa tried to land solid blows. Renegade held up his rifle.

Akarix landed a punch on Xeon, causing him to crumple. Another punch knocked Iruk into a wall. A blast of energy hit Aurius, dropping her. Akarix turned intangible, and began to gain the upper hand. Takanuva was on the receiving end of a series of pure shadow bolts. Akarix teleported, punching Takora in the back of the neck. He took a hit from Klurus, but quickly defeated the Ice Toa with another blast of shadow. Akarix sent a sonic scream at Tahu, sending the Toa of Fire stumbling backwards. Lewa charged and tried to affect Akarix with wind, only to be lifted off his feet and thrown into a wall by the Makuta. He blasted Hydrix. The Water Toa crouched and dug her fingers into the floor, but another sonic blast knocked her into a wall.

This pattern continued for some time, until all the Toa were unconscious. Akarix noticed too late that Renegade was not among them. The Toa, using his generator to stay at the same molecular frequency as Akarix, shot the Makuta several times in the chest. Akarix lunged at him with a blade; only do have a bolt of electricity knock it cleanly out of his hand. Renegade jumped into the air, flipping over Akarix in an arc and raining plasma bolts down on the Makuta. Akarix tried a sound blast, only for Renegade to stop it with a sound wave of his own. "How are you this prepared?" Akarix grunted. The smaller figure rolled under Akarix's weapon and jumped up directly in front of the Makuta. He grabbed Akarix's shoulders and smirked.

"That would ruin the fun." A massive jolt of electricity slammed into Akarix, jolting him painfully. As he stumbled back, Renegade took out an antimatter bomb. "Then again, you aren't having fun anyways." He ran forward and punched Akarix in the chest. The bomb attached itself to Akarix and detonated. He was thrown back, and was reaching the edge of the room. His armor was crumbling.

Renegade unloaded a strange weapon. "It's designed for piercing armor." A shell flew out, going straight through Akarix's armor and flowing straight through the antidermis. It attached to Akarix's back and exploded in a blast of energy. There was no smoke, but it was still noticeable. A hole tore open on Akarix's back, showing antidermis.

Renegade approached his fallen enemy, and then patched the armor hole. He loaded Akarix into the containment cells in the bottom of his ship.

R

By the time the other Toa woke up, they were in Renegade's ship. "What happened?" Xeon asked.

"Your ribs broke. I had a drone fix them, since I don't like getting slimy stuff on my hands." Renegade replied.

"I meant with Akarix." Xeon said.

"Captured and heavily injured. You can review the mission footage later."

R

A gigantic being walked across the dark room. The signs of battle were everywhere. Blue eyes looked out of a Kanohi Kraahkan, and massive claws curled into fists. The mysterious entity looked out as the Toa's ship flew away. The titan stormed to the exit, finding it blocked. One fist rose. One blow and the blockage was shattered. The figure walked into the light, finally free from the chamber underground.

It spread massive, almost batlike wings and flew off the island.

End of Renegade II: Escalation.


End file.
